


Epilogue

by DreamingInWonderland



Category: For the People (TV 2018)
Genre: Allison Adams matchmaker, But five since the last scene of 2x10: A Choice Between Two Things, Canon Compliant, Flash Forward, Four years from now, Future Fic, Jill gives some good advice, Multi, Sandra and Kate are hopelessly in love with each other but don't think the other feels the same, Set in a world not coming apart at the seams, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26195269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingInWonderland/pseuds/DreamingInWonderland
Summary: 2024: sick of Sandra's pining over Kate Littlejohn, Allison plans to finally get the couple together and calls in some help from an old friend.
Relationships: Allison Adams/Leonard Knox, Jill Carlan/Roger Gunn, Sandra Bell/Kate Littlejohn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something I've been toying with for a while now, it's set 5 years after the show ended (no real life politicians are mentioned but please assume the people running the country in this fic are competent at their job and the current administration is a distant horrific nightmare) and its just a little chance to see what some of our favourite characters are up to now. As this is a happy thing, if a character is not mentioned (cos I couldn't properly fit them in) don't worry about them, they're alive and well and living their best lives.
> 
> Also contains the most uninspired name for an office that provides assistance to the Federal Public Defender's office. My imagination clearly went on strike. 🙂

Everything was perfect. Not that Sandra had expected anything different. Allison always knew how to throw great parties. Many people still spoke in reverent tones about the New Years Eve party she'd thrown the previous year, so there was no doubt that she would go all out for Leonard's birthday. Sandra looked around the hotel ballroom, everything was tasteful and perfectly tailored for one of New York's politicians, and yet, Sandra could still spot the little hints here and there that showed who Leonard was as a person.

She raised her glass and took another gulp of her wine as her gaze landed on Kate who was talking to one of Leonard's relatives. She sighed as she thought about the woman that so often crossed her mind. She'd realised a while back that there were some deep feelings there, but had long ago planned to do nothing about it. She'd never had much luck when it came to making a relationship last, and she'd rather have Kate as friend and colleague than a cordial professional relationship.

Allison sighed as she watched her best friend stare longingly across the room. It had been five years since a drunken Sandra had confessed her feelings about Kate to Allison. Four since she'd broken up with Ted unable to be in a relationship with him when she had feelings for someone else. Three since Sandra had resolved to actually do something about it, but had failed when Anya had come back and resumed her relationship with Kate. And it had almost been a year, since Allison had put them both in her wedding party in the hopes of stirring up some romance but it had gone nowhere. She may like a slow burn romance, but only on TV, not in real life. It was time she stopped being so subliminal about things. She had to finally try the more direct approach. And she knew exactly who she could get to help her. She just needed to plant the idea in Sandra's head first.

“You should ask her out,” Allison commented as she came up beside her. Sandra turned to look at her friend. “We all know how you feel about her.”

“Pretty sure she's in the same boat as you,” Leonard added as he took a sip of his beer.

“Well, even if she is,” Sandra sighed. “Nothing can ever happen, we're on opposite sides of the courtroom.”

“Yeah, because that's stopped people before,” Leonard snorted, indicating between him and Allison, before nodding towards Seth and Jay who were stood talking to Leonard's P.A. Harry.

“But its still against the rules.” Sandra protested weakly. It was the excuse she frequently used, but even she could see it was starting to lose some of its potency. Especially as the rules weren't as finite as they had been before. There was now room for a little flexibility with regards to personal relationships. But she still was hesitant to make any sort of move, especially when she'd heard that Anya was back in town and attempting to start things up again with Kate, knowing that the pair had had a bit of an on-off relationship over the past couple of years. “I think maybe its time to give it up as a lost cause.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she added. “But before you decide to give up for good, there's one person who would be able to give you some guidance in this situation.”

“Fine,” Sandra replied. She knew exactly who Allison was referring to, and it had crossed her mind before to speak to Jill, but it had seemed impertinent somehow. With a last long suffering glance at the pair, she turned and walked away to go and speak to Seth and Jay.

“Do you think her and Kate will ever sort themselves out?”

“I don't know,” Allison said with a shake of her head. “But if anyone can provide her with the advice she needs it's Jill. She's the only one that knows what Sandra's going through.” Allison commented. “If she wasn't in Washington this weekend I'd have made Sandra talk to her now.”

“And if it backfires?” Leonard asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

“It won't,” Allison said confidently. She was certain that things would work out. She wasn't sure she could take much more of Sandra's yearning if it didn't. “But if it doesn't work, I think Seth and Jay have a back up plan.”

-x-x-x-x-

The New York Legal Defence Initiative had been set up about three years ago. After yet another trying case between the two offices that had seen Allison and Leonard square off against each other in a case of whistle-blowing, Leonard had made an off hand comment that if the Public Defenders office had a lot more resources then Allison would've won the case. An extremely pissed off Allison had told him in no uncertain terms that maybe he should put his money where his mouth was. As a result, Leonard – with some help from his mother who had been seeking re-election – had set it all up, meaning that public defenders would have access to more money. They had an annual budget from the Government, but as it was still considerably less than what they gave the Federal Prosecutors, they had to hold regular fundraisers.

The office itself was located on a side street just off of Foley Square, it had all of the public defender offices in the New York districts under its umbrella, providing extra resources to both the federal and state offices when needed. Whether that was a little more in the way of a budget or some investigators and paralegals.

The initial plan had been for Allison to run it, but as she had no desire to leave the Federal Public Defenders office at that moment in time (though she did have a seat on the board of directors of the initiative), they had offered the position of CEO to Jill. Though she had initially baulked at running the office, she had soon accepted the position having become a little disillusioned with the justice system. So she'd passed the position of Federal Public Defender onto Sandra. Of course she hadn't completely given up as a lawyer, though these days she mostly stuck to pro-bono cases. She also gave lectures at Columbia Law School a couple of times a week.

It had also proven to be a case of good timing, when not long after Jill had left the FPD, Douglas Delap had been promoted to Attorney General of New York leaving his position as the US Attorney. As Kate was still a bit too inexperienced – and had no desire to take the post regardless – the new administration had gone to Roger and asked him if he would take the job. He had agreed on the sole proviso that it was only interim until they could find someone else. However, it had soon become a permanent position, one that he had found quite pleasant on occasion.

Sandra walked through the lobby and took the elevator up to the offices on the fifth floor. She'd been here a few times before mostly when it came to securing up the budget for the FPD. Though she had occasionally come by to get some advice from from Jill. Of course those times it had been in regards to cases or some legal matters, this time was decidedly different. She couldn't recall a time when she'd ever gone to Jill for advice on matters of the heart. Though the odd little nugget of wisdom had come through every now and again. The elevator doors opened and Sandra walked down the corridor towards Jill's office. She smiled as she approached Jill's secretary Leonie. The woman was the textbook definition of no-nonsense and Jill had credited her with not only keeping her sane in her new job, but also making sure she wasn't completely disorganised.

“I've got a meeting with Ms Carlan at two,” Sandra said. Even though Jill and Roger had been married for four years now, she still chose to go by the name Carlan. Professionally, at any rate.

Leonie looked at the calendar on her iPad and then back up at Sandra. “Yes, she called about ten minutes ago, her lunch meeting with the US Attorney ran a little late, she's on her way back now,” she replied. “Have a seat, she won't be long.”

Sandra gave Leonie a small smile, before she made her way over to the seating area. Where once she might have had a few choice comments about Jill blocking out two hours on her schedule for what was essentially a lunch date with her husband, now she could understand it. Mostly because she had heard the rumblings that the US Attorney's office was putting together a massive case. One that was going to tie a lot of people up for a long time, involve a lot of high profile faces and change the landscape of several high profile organisations. So she really couldn't blame the pair for trying to carve out some time for themselves before things got hectic.

She pulled out her phone and noticed a message from Kate asking if they could change their meeting to tomorrow morning at ten. Sandra wondered what was stopping her from being able to meet this afternoon like originally planned, but figured it must be something important. Especially since Kate wasn't one to change her schedule last minute. She sent back a reply, saying that that would be fine, before she slid her phone back into her bag.

A few minutes later she heard footsteps and looked up to see both Jill and Roger walking towards the office. They stopped a few metres short of the office entrance. She couldn't help but smile as she watched them talk in hushed tones and shared a quiet goodbye, before they separated and he headed back towards the elevator bank. Sandra could certainly see why Allison had suggested she speak to Jill before deciding once and for all to give up on the notion of anything happening between her and Kate.

“Any messages while I've been gone?” she asked as she approached Leonie's desk.

“A couple, but nothing that needs your attention this moment,” she replied. “And your 2 o'clock is here.”

Jill turned and smiled at the younger woman. “Hi Sandra, come on in,” she said as she pushed open her office door.

Sandra followed Jill inside her office, and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. She looked at the various pictures that were sitting on the cabinet against the window. She noticed the picture of Jill with her, Allison and Jay that had been taken at her farewell drinks sat pride of place next to a photo of her and Roger from their wedding, as well as a picture of her with her two stepdaughters. A bit further along was a picture from Roger's swearing in ceremony, and a bit up from that was a new picture she'd never seen before.

"Who's that?" Sandra asked pointing at the silver frame, as Jill sat down. She turned and noticed which picture Sandra was referring to.

"That is Olivia, our granddaughter,” she smiled as she looked at the baby. "As of today, she is five months old.”

Sandra's eyes widened. "And how's Roger taking that development?"

"Fairly well, even if he does complain about being referred to as 'grandpa'"

Sandra noticed the slightly wistful tone that her voice had taken on. "Did you ever want..." she tailed off hesitantly wondering if it was even something she wanted to talk about.

"Once, maybe, I think, a long long time ago when my life was on a different path. Anyway," she paused and shook her head. "What can I do for you? As much as I'd like to think you just stopped by for a chat."

"I need some advice," she replied. "And you're really the only one that could probably understand."

Jill smiled. "This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain Chief of the Criminal Division now would it?"

"How'd you…" she tailed off.

"Sandra, I'm married to the US Attorney, and Tina Krissman is a close friend," she chuckled. “I know more about what's going on the Southern District than most,” she added with a grin, neglecting to mention that Allison had also called her to let her know exactly why Sandra was stopping by. Though she did already have a few suspicions of her own, prior to that phonecall. “So what is it?"

"Was it hard? Dating Roger when you were on opposite sides?"

"Very," she replied. "There's a fine line you have to walk to keep things separate. There will frequently be lots you can't talk about. And you have to be sure it's worth the risk."

"Was it for you two?"

"It was," she smiled, absent-mindedly running her thumb over both of her rings. “And worth every moment."

"And how do you know it's worth it? What made him different?"

Jill paused as she tried to figure out how exactly to put it into words. "I never pictured myself with someone like Roger. We were – and still are – totally different people. We come at things from different angles. But it just felt right. I'm aware how trite that sounds, but its true, if it's worth it, you'll just know."

Sandra smiled at her former mentor. She remembered how she'd yelled at her all those years ago about the relationship, unable to understand. But now she did. She could understand why she had said she'd thought about the relationship from every angle. She'd been doing exactly the same with her and Kate, now understanding the exact minefield Jill and Roger had had to walk through back then.

"You were right," she said causing Jill to look over at her. "When you said that one day I'd realise I need something more than the job."

"And do you think you've found it?"

"I think so."

Jill gave her a small smile before she pulled open one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a thin piece of card, edged in gold, before she slid it across the desk towards Sandra.

"What is this?"

"An invitation," she replied. "To the annual fundraiser for the New York Defence Initiative next week. I have it on good authority that Kate Littlejohn will be there. Maybe you two can properly talk. Away from courtrooms and offices. I find it always helps," she added. Sandra noticed the small smile and wondered just what experience it was Jill was recalling.

"So you really think I should go for it?"

"I do," Jill nodded.

-x-x-x-x-

Sandra walked into the function room and looked around. She'd been to a few fundraisers over the past few years, but nothing quite like this. Still, she figured it would be easier for the rich and powerful to dig deep if they were in surroundings that suited their tastes and the Tribeca Rooftop certainly fit the situation, especially with the views of New York at night. She looked to see if there was anyone she knew had arrived yet. She could see Jill and Roger stood talking to the District Attorney, while she spotted Allison walking towards her.

“Sandra you came,” Allison said as she reached her friend, pulling her into a hug. “Jill said she'd invited you, but I didn't think you'd actually come. I know you don't particularly like these events.”

“Does anyone?”

“Fair point,” Allison replied, as she threaded her arm through Sandra's. “Come on, let me get you a drink.”

-x-

Though they were a necessary evil of her job, Jill didn't particularly like the attending the fundraisers. Mostly because some people only gave money to look charitable, rather than out of any sense of actually wanting to help others. Though what made it marginally better was that Roger had a similar opinion of some of the attendees, and he would help her make a quick getaway as soon as it was acceptable for them to leave.

“I gotta go schmooze some senators, come save me in ten minutes?”

“Fifteen,” he replied.

Jill raised an eyebrow at him, normally he'd rescue her when she asked him too, knowing how much she hated having to talk to some of the politicians that were in attendance at these things. Especially those that she had never forgiven for their actions in 2020 and couldn't believe were still re-elected. He nodded in the direction of Kate who was leaning against the bar staring across the room at Sandra. Jill nodded in understanding, before she kissed him lightly and headed over towards the group of senators. He watched her for a few moments before he turned and walked over to Kate.

“You okay Littlejohn?”

“I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?” she replied, earning an unimpressed look from Roger who merely indicated in the direction that Kate had been staring in for most of the evening. She sighed. “Its something that won't happen. We're too different.”

“I thought that once too,” he mused. Kate followed his eyeline and noticed who he was looking at. She smiled slightly as she noticed the look on his face. She'd seen a similar look on Leonard's face whenever he'd talk about Allison, or when Seth would talk about Jay. “Then one night we were talking, and I learnt that she felt the same.”

“And what did you do about it?”

“I married her,” he commented with a smile.

“Isn't that rather simplifying matters?”

“Perhaps,” Roger said with a shrug. “It is true though.”

“Was it worth it though, worth everything you went through to get to that point?”

“It was,” he replied with a nod. “And I'd do it all again in a heartbeat,” he paused as he signalled the bartender for two drinks.

“But how will I know if its worth taking that chance?”

“Its just a feeling you get. When you know, you know,” Roger replied, rolling his eyes at how cliché he'd sounded. “And you won't know, if you don't try,” he added. He picked up the two drinks, “now, I have to go save my wife just as I promised.”

Kate couldn't help but laugh as she watched Roger seamlessly integrate himself into the conversation without making it look like a rescue mission. She glanced over at Sandra and wondered if they would ever have that type of relationship. Of course that would require her to take the risk and ask her out. And after everything with Anya over the past couple of years, she was reluctant to put herself out there and risk losing Sandra as everything but a colleague.

-x-

“Are you sure you want to do this now?”

Sandra gave her an exasperated look. “Aren't you the one who's been pestering me to actually ask her out for the past few years?” Allison conceded her point and indicated that she go and speak to the other woman.

With a last look at Allison who gave her an encouraging nod, Sandra walked across the room. As she approached Kate, she adjusted her dress and took a deep breath. This could go one of two ways, and she was pinning her hopes on it going the right way.

“Sandra, wasn't expecting to see you here,” Kate commented as she saw the other woman lean against the bar.

“It was a last minute decision,” she smiled. “Where's Anya?” she asked looking around for some sign of the agent.

“Back in Washington,” Kate commented. “Its over for good this time.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Its for the best,” Kate shrugged.

The two lapsed into silence as they sipped their drinks, unaware of the several pairs of eyes watching them. “So, I was thinking,” Sandra said after a few moments of silence. “Would you maybe like to get a drink sometime?” Kate looked at the glasses between them with a raised eyebrow. “I mean somewhere where we're not surrounded by friends and colleagues and work is not on our mind.”

Kate gave her a small smile. “I would like that.”

Sandra smiled back before she picked up her drink.

From the other side of the bar, Allison sagged against Leonard, letting out a sigh of relief. Hopefully, the five years of mutual pining would pay off and her best friend would be happy.

“Looks like we won't need to lock them in a closet anytime soon,” Leonard commented with a chuckle as he recalled an offhand comment Seth had made. 

“I'll be sure to let Jay and Seth know,” Allison replied as she picked up her glass. She looked across the ballroom and caught Jill's eye, nodding in the direction of the two lawyers at the bar. She couldn't help but smile as Jill mimed a _'hallelujah'_ , before turning back to her own conversation. Allison turned her attention back to Sandra and Kate, her smile widened as she watched them laugh over some shared joke. Though it was far too early to even think it, Allison couldn't help but already imagine what their wedding would look like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. ❤️


End file.
